The Confucian Tradition and New Cultural Influences; Neo-Confucianism and The Return of Christianity (738-741)




Neo-Confucianism and Pulp Fiction (SN)
  • Ming and Quing Dynasty looked to model off of Confucianism
  • Neo-Confucianism was made by Zhu Xi a 12-century scholar
  • European missionary came back to convert the Chinese to Christianity
A. Confucian Education (SN)
  • Song dynasty scholar Zhu Xi was the most prominent architect of Neo-Confucianism.
  • Combined moral, ethical and political values of Confucious with the logical rigor and speculative power of Buddhist Philosophy.
  • Confucian education was supported by Ming and Qing emperors because it emphasized obedience to established rulers.
  • Ming and Qing Emperors funded the Hanlin Academy (research institute) for Confucian scholars in Beiging
  • The Ming Emperor, Yongle, sponsored the Yongle Encyclopedia which was a vast collection of Chinese philosophy, liturature, and history the filled about 23.000 scrolls.
  • The Quang Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong both produced similar books
  • Kangxi's Collection of Books became the most influential even though it was the smallest as it was printed and distributed the widest
  • Qianlong's Complete Library of the Four Treasuries ran to 93,556 pamphlet-size volumes, it was distributed to seven libraries throughout China
B. Popular Culture (SN)
  • Imperial Courts promoted Confucianism
  • Most urban residents had no advanced education and didn't know about Confucius or Zhu Xi
  • Most were literate merchants but preferred entertainment which was more engaging
  • Popular novels met their needs.
C. Popular Novels (SN)
  • Scholars looked down on novels as crude fiction
  • Printing made publishing books cheap
  • Most novels had literary merit, but tales of conflict, horror, wonder, excitement, and sometimes unconcealed pornography appealed to readers.
  • Also romance novels appealed to the people
  • Some novels reflected upon human affairs such as:
    • The Romance of the Three Kingdoms which explored the political intrigue after the Han Dynasty (CL)
    • The Dream of the Red Chamber shed light on the dynamics of the wealthy families (CL)
    • Journey to the West promoted Buddhism in China(CL)

A. The Return of Christianity to China (SN)
  • Christians established churches in China as early as the 7th century
  • Roman Catholic communities were prominent in Chinese commercial centers during the Yuan dynasty.
  • Christianity disappeared form China after the epidemic plague outbreak.
  • Missionaries came bad in the 16th century and had to start from scratch.
B. Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), an Italian Jesuit in the Ming court (SN)
  • learned man who mastered written and oral Chinese
  • Impressed Chinese with European science and mathematics
  • Popular mechanical devices were glass prisms, harpsichords, clocks
  • Ricci corrected Chinese calenders and solar eclipses
  • Made maps of the world with China place diplomatically at the center
C. Confucianism and Christianity (SN)
  • Jesuits main goal was to obtain converts
  • Portrayed christianity very similarly to Chinese cultural traditions.
  • by the mid 18th century Chinese christians were about at 200,000 which is a tiny proportion compared tho the 225 million.
D. End of the Jesuit Missionary (CL)
  • The Roman Catholic Mission came to an end when multiple Christian groups in China started to fight
  • The Franciscian and Dominican orders also sought converts and were jealous of the Jesuit's influence
  • They appealed to the Pope about the Jesuits preaching in Chinese and letting the worship of ancestors
  • The Pope made any missionarys promote Christianity in the European style which led to its downfall in China
  • The Emperor Kangxi was angry at what the Pope had done and banned the missionaries from China
  • Christianity finally left China in the mid-eighteenth century